When producing textile fabrics such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, etc., faults which cause the ideally regular and precisely structured surface to exhibit irregularities or faults are a frequent occurrence. In terms of extent, faults of this kind may range from being very small and inconspicuous to very large or, for other reasons, conspicuous and may reduce the value and the function, e.g. the strength or the appearance of the fabric. The finished fabrics are therefore subjected to an examination for the purpose of indicating faults in the structure. This may be a visual or a machine examination and often takes place both before dyeing or dressing and also before making up. An increase in the quantity of detected faults is to be expected in particular when carrying out a machine or automated examination, so that a correspondingly greater data flow may result.
One disadvantage in this case lies in the fact that, although a considerable amount of data is available, these data are likely to cause confusion and may not just serve to improve the quality of the products. It should also be borne in mind that there are a great many producers of textile fabrics of all kinds and that each producer and also many customers are inclined to define and implement their own quality criteria. This means that textile fabrics which are assessed by different individuals or institutions result in assessments which cannot easily be compared with one another.